Fun Facts about Turkey Day
11.22.10
The yearly fall tradition of showing our gratitude on Thanksgiving Day is here again. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that encourages us look at all the amazing people and events that continually make a positive impact on our lives. But the tradition of giving thanks also has a rich culture and history behind it. Cotton Candy encourages you not only to enjoy your holiday but also learn these interesting facts about Thanksgiving Day.
1. Historians say the Puritans celebrated a thanksgiving feast with about 90 Wampanoag Native Americans reportedly in the fall of 1621. But some historians believe the first thanksgiving feast was held by Spanish explorers in Florida.
2. By the fall of 1621 only half of the Puritans who had sailed on the Mayflower had survived. Historians say survivors decided to give a thanksgiving feast to show their gratitude for their continued survival.
3. That thanksgiving celebration lasted for three days.
4. President Abraham Lincoln established the original date for our National Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1863.
5. Congress did not declare Thanksgiving a national holiday until 1941.
6. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.
7. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada.
8. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird.
9. A reported 91 percent of Americans choose to eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
10. Californians reportedly are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
11. The editors of Cotton Candy love smoked turkey.
12. A reported 50 percent of Americans put stuffing inside of their turkeys.
13. Southerners in the U.S. generally use cornbread as the base for their turkey stuffing. Northerners generally use a white bread base.
14. Cotton Candy wishes you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Cotton Candy Blogger: Danielle Smith
